Filetab

Organizations have been using Filetab to develop applications since the 1970s. Throughout that time, RapidGen has been the principal company providing expert support and consulting services for Filetab, and the many variants of Filetab, such as

  • Filetab-D
  • TABN for ICL systems
  • TAB-360 for IBM System/360
  • HTAB for Honeywell systems
  • DTPL, FLT6, FPL, TAB-11, TABH, TABU, Unitab and many others

RapidGen was originally founded as Filetab Support Services Limited in the early 1970s and solely worked on Filetab-based applications. The company name was changed to RapidGen as more services were added, and the company started to develop its own software.

RapidGen’s own software uses RPL, a programming language that is broadly similar to Filetab. And just like Filetab, it allows complex IF / ELSE logic to be succinctly expressed as a decision table.

A Filetab Decision Table

* an example of decision table logic
*
*DETAB Decision.table.name
C IF   called.decision.table    Y N N
IF   Second.table               - Y N
A CALL Action1                  X . .
CALL Action2                    . X .
REPEAT                          X X .
EXIT F                         . . X

Converting Filetab to Portable Code

RapidGen can help you support and enhance your Filetab applications, or migrate them to a new system. For efficient migration, RapidGen’s software automatically converts Filetab programs into RapidGen’s portable RPL language.

The conversion automatically converts 99% of Filetab code, leaving just a few exceptions that may need adjusting manually.  When the programs have been converted into RPL they can be run on Windows, Unix, Linux or many other operating systems.

Duncan Rogers (Engineering) Ltd

For 21 years Duncan Rogers Engineering had used a stock control and order processing system written in Filetab-D running on an OpenVMS VAX system. They needed to move away from the ageing hardware and there were no suitable packages to replace their bespoke application.

In just a few months, RapidGen was able to migrate their suite of custom Filetab applications to a modern operating system.

“Our new application is live and running on a Linux server. Our users have hardly noticed the difference apart from the amazing increase in speed.

Most of the migration work has involved data conversion from the original RMS structures, and some specific code changes to support the differences in user interface and printing services. Most importantly there has been no requirement to recode our precious program logic or change our business procedures and as a result, no need to retrain our users.

We are delighted with the speed and success of the migration process and are excited about the opportunities that now lie ahead.”

Andrew Rogers, Finance Director
Duncan Rogers (Engineering) Ltd

Your Filetab Applications

For advice or assistance with your Filetab applications, please let us know how we can help.
Contact Us